New ram break in!

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Princelake

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Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. I just bought a new 2017 ram 1500 outdoorsman with the 5.7 8speed and 3.92 gearing. I live in northern ontario and I drove down traded in my old old vehicle and drove my new truck home about 800km(500miles) my average speed was around 100km(60mph) my average fuel economy was 14-15L per 100km or 16-17mpg. I was hoping for a bit better fuel mileage for highway driving. Is there a break in period and after start seeing better numbers? Or is this normal for this Truck?
 

14hemiexpress

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I'm sure it'll get better my 2010 will get 18+ at 60 and I have the 5speed
 

Addicted2fishing

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Welcome and hello from the south ! Southern Ontario that is!

You have the 3:92 gears and prob won’t get much better. Better performance and towing but take a small hit on mileage. Also, don’t forgot its winter and idling mixed with winter gas is brutal. In summer I average 12-13 L/100 K and now I’m around 15.5 L/100 K with 3:21 rear That’s a huge difference eh. Sorry. Has to throw in a Eh

For break in not really necessary. Although the do suggest avoiding hard acceleration from a stop warning damage to transmission. Just keep your RPM’s varied and brief hard acceleration while moving is recommended. So if you’re doing 60k push it hard briefly to 80 or so. That’s what I got from reading multiple owners manuals.

Change oil based on computer or if you need to 10,000k. Don’t go in sooner it’s a waste of money [emoji106]


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Burla

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I wouldn't judge the mileage for a couple thousand miles. As for do you need to worry about break in period, only if you see metal in the oil and only one way to skin that pig. When you pour the oil into whatever container you need for transport, look on the bottom of the oil pan. If there is metal, you should worry about break in, add zddp with conventional oil.
 
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Princelake

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Thanks guys! Ya it was cold af yesterday driving home. Southern ontario was -25c plus wind chill. Once I got to sudbury/espanola it was -29c. So I'm sure that didn't help with fuel economy. Also once I got to Sudbury my tire pressure sensors were going off. My tire pressure was only 20-25lb. Most tire pumps were froze and I found a working one at espanola and put them to 40. So I'm sure that definitely played a factor.
 

Wild one

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Thanks guys! Ya it was cold af yesterday driving home. Southern ontario was -25c plus wind chill. Once I got to sudbury/espanola it was -29c. So I'm sure that didn't help with fuel economy. Also once I got to Sudbury my tire pressure sensors were going off. My tire pressure was only 20-25lb. Most tire pumps were froze and I found a working one at espanola and put them to 40. So I'm sure that definitely played a factor.

+9C over here in Calgary the last couple of days,didn't even freeze the last couple nights,lol.
 

chris52010trx4

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ya the tire pressure thing will act up abit in this cold weather.. (live in sault ste marie ontario) this year mines been good.. but past 4 yrs its acted up.. always fixes itself once the tires are warmed up.. my 2010 which is a 5spd as well as above poster usually gets about 14/15 L /100k in summer and atm is about 18/19ish but i also let it idle abit more than i should
 

tsielski

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Yes, low tire pressure will have a negative impact on mileage, as will very cold temperatures. My 2017, a bit heavier than yours, but with the same drivetrain, was getting mid-18's in miles per gallon for the first few thousand miles. During the later spring and throughout the summer, if I kept my speeds at 70 (mph) I could regularly see low 20's in miles per gallon on the highway. A steady head wind, or hilly terrain will affect that tho.

On a completely separate note, I enjoy reading Canadian members posts in metric units. I remember when Canada when metric between 1976 and 1977. After I spent over 11 years living in Germany during my US Army career, I really got used to things being fully "metricated". Though pressure there in Canada still appears to be given in PSI rather than kPa (kilopascals) or Bar.
 

bchap05

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Mostly depends on road and or wind or speed. I drove 170 miles the other day in my 2017. Interstate at 82mph for 100 Miles of it and 70 Miles highway at 60mph. On the way there i was getting 17.5. It’s very slightly uphill a good portion of the way but not enough that it looks like you are going up a hill. Plus it was windy. I reset the gauge before I left To come home and I pulled into the gas station After the highway 60mph section at 28mpg. Best I’ve ever gotten. Rest of way was interstate so I bumped to 80+ and when I got home was at 21-22.

If highway at 55-60 I can get 25ish as long as it’s mostly flat or slightly down more than up
 

68PowerWagon

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On my 6.4 I started getting a little better mileage around 4-5,000 mi. & then oddly enough this summer around 18,000mi. I started getting a little better performance & another little bump in mileage. You will definitely get another 1-2mpg when the winter blend goes away.
Break in periods seem to vary from vehicle to vehicle. I have had some break in as early as 500mi. & as long as 5,000 on some.
Congrats on your new truck!
 

DwnDak

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Ignore all mileage in winter. Period. My 2016 started fairly high around 13.5-14.5/100 for quite a while. After your first oil change you'll notice a difference, then about 5k after that it will probably settle in a bit. I'm averaging 11/100 all summer long, but in the winter I've been lucky to average 15.5/100 .. Of course the amount of wheelspin and autostarting doesn't help. Forget winter, and just drive it. As for break it.. its under warranty... drive it a bit harder than normal and that should increase your ECM settings/threshold and establish a base point, and then once its got a year or so under its belt you'll be set up for 10.5/11.5/100kms. Enjoy!
 

Addicted2fishing

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Ignore all mileage in winter. Period. My 2016 started fairly high around 13.5-14.5/100 for quite a while. After your first oil change you'll notice a difference, then about 5k after that it will probably settle in a bit. I'm averaging 11/100 all summer long, but in the winter I've been lucky to average 15.5/100 .. Of course the amount of wheelspin and autostarting doesn't help. Forget winter, and just drive it. As for break it.. its under warranty... drive it a bit harder than normal and that should increase your ECM settings/threshold and establish a base point, and then once its got a year or so under its belt you'll be set up for 10.5/11.5/100kms. Enjoy!
Exactly. My winter mileage has been terrible ha ha. I have to squeeze 550 kilometres out of a tank. Summer 650 is easily achieved


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JJP71584

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I also have a 5.7 with 3.92 gears and noticed that my mileage got better around 5K.
I complained about mileage to a rep from Ram and they said that after an oil change around 5-6K is when you should see mileage improve slightly...which in my case it did.
 

huntergreen

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Op, in the states, we are running winter formula gas which lowers mpg. That along with our cold temps, and more idle time for a warm up my mpg took a pretty good hit. You will see a nice increase in mpg when the weather warms up in the spring.
 
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